Friction-clutch.



No. 735,517. PATENTED"AUG.4;11903.

- 0. W. HUNT.

FRICTION CLUTCH.

APPLIGATION FILED APR. 17, 1902 N0 MODEL.

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UNITED STATES Patented August 4, 1905 PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES W. HUNT, OF BRIGHTON, NEW YORK.

FRICTION-CLUTCH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 735,517, dated August 4, 1908.

Application filed April 17, 1902.

To all whom/it may concern.-

Be it known-that I, CHARLES WALLACE HUNT, a citizen of the United States, residing in West New Brighton, borough of Rich mond, city of New York, State of New'York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Friction-Clutches, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof.

In friction-clutches havingdrums and hoist ing and conveying apparatus the friction material-such as wood, leather, &c.is gener-' ally secured to the external surface of one of the clutch members, while the cooperating metal surface of the other clutch member is internal. As is well understood by those familiar with hoisting apparatus of this character, the metal clutch member becomes very hot in use, expanding when heated and contracting when cooled, so that when the clutch members are left in contact after considerable use, as frequently happens, the outer metal clutch member contracts upon the inner memberhaving the friction material and the two are so firmly locked together that it is difiicult to separate them, the useof sledges being frequently necessary to separate them when starting up again. It is also well understood thatowing to the heating above referred to and to the great pressure of one part against the'other in hoisting apparatus designed for heavy loads one or the other of the clutch members is liable to be distorted, if not broken.

It is the object of this invention to provide a clutch for such uses the members of which shall not be liable to be locked together if they are allowed to cool in contact and shall not be liable to distortion or breakage through the heavy pressure ofone member upon the other, and in accordance with the invention the friction materialis applied to the internal surface of one ofthe clutch members and one or both of such members, as may be necessary, is or are so constructed as to resist the pressure without distortion.

The invention will be more fully described hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in Which for purposes of explanation it is illustrated, and in which-- Figure 1 is a view in side elevation of a ing-handle 11..

Serial No.103, 2 59. (No model.)

hoisting-drum to which the invention is applied. Fig. 2 is an end view of the same as seen from the left of Fig. 1, the clutch-operatinghandle being shown in dotted lines. Fig. 3 is a horizontal central section.

. In the structure represented in the drawings the drivingshaft a is represented as having keyed thereon the male clutch member 17, the same having a tapered metal rim 0, which is carried by arms (1 from the hub e, thearms d being inclined in a direction opposite to the direction of the thrust when the clutch members are engaged. Not only is the thrust thus more effectively resisted,

but the expansion tends only to bring the arms into a plane at right angles on the axis of the shaft and not to distort the clutch members injuriously.

The drumfis shown as mounted loosely on the shaft a by spiders g,the arms of which are preferably inclined in opposite directions, substantially as represented. The female clutch member h is secured to the drum in any convenient manner, as by being formed with one of the spiders g, and is adapted to surround the clutch member 12, the friction material 1' being disposed. internally and formed to cooperate properly with the metal clutch-surface c'of the member 17.

The clutch may be operated in any suitable manner. As represented in the drawings, the hub of one of the spiders g is engaged loosely by a collar It, which is threaded to receive screw-shafts m, the other ends-of said screwshafts being oppositely threaded in the standard n. Short arms 0 are secured to the screwshafts and are connected by link p, one of such arms having a second arm q, which may be connected by a link 7" with a 'short arm 5 on a shaft t, to which is applied the operat- It will be understood that by moving the handle u in one direction or the other the screw-shafts m will receive a partial rotation to move the drum and theclutch member h thereon toward or from the fixed clutch member b.

A suitable brake-band v: is arranged around the drum f, which has a peripheral groove at one end, in which the band rests. Each end of this brake-band is connected to the ends of a block 10, fast upon shaft t, by links a; and y. The end of the block w to which link x is connected is larger than the end to which link 3 is connected, and both ends are forked, so as to receive conveniently the links. In Fig. 2 the positions of the brake-band, the lever u, the block 20, and its intermediate connections with the brake-band are illustrated as they appear when the lever it has been moved to bring the clutch member h into engagement with the fixed clutch memher I), and it will be obvious that when the handle it is moved in the opposite direction (which will cause shaft t, Fig. 2, to turn in a counter-clockwise direction) block to will draw the links a: and y toward each other, thereby drawing the band 1) tightly around the drum t, and as the clutch is thrown out simultaneously the drum is braked and brought to a quick stop.

It will be'obvious that in use the female clutch member h is insulated by the friction material 1 and will not become very hot, and therefore will not expand materially, and although the male clutch member 17 may become hot and expand while in use nevertheless upon cooling it will contract away from the other clutch member, so that no locking of the clutch members through permitting them to cool in contact can occur.

I claim as my invention 1. The combination of a driving-shaft, a

drum mounted loosely thereon, a female clutch member secured to said drum, friction material secured within said female member, a male clutch member fixed on said shaft and having a metal rim to cooperate with said friction material,a collar loosely engaging the hub of said drum, a standard, screw-shafts having oppositely-threaded ends carried by said standard and engaging said collar and means to actuate said screw-shafts, substantially as described.

2. The combination of a driving-shaft, a drum mounted loosely thereon, a female clutch member secured to said drum, friction material secured within said female member, a male clutch member fixed on said shaft and having a metal rim to cooperate with said friction material, a collar loosely engaging the hub of said drum, a standard, screw- I shafts having oppositely-threaded ends carried by said standard and engaging said collar, means to actuate said screw-shafts, and a brake-band around said drum also actuated by said means, substantially as described. This specification signed and witnessed this 12th day of April, A. D. 1902.

CHAS. W. HUNT. In presence of WM. F. HUNT, CHAS. E. SIMONSON. 

